No Udaan poster at India Pavillion in Cannes

Anurag Kashyap production Udaan may have figured in the official lineup at this year's Cannes -- the first time in seven years -- but surprisingly the film did not find a place at the Indian Pavillion inaugurated here today.

The India Pavilion at the Festival De Cannes, showcasing the country's cinema to the world audience was opened by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Raghu Menon but there was not a single poster of director Vikramaditya Motwane's debut venture.

Instead, the Pavillion sported posters of India's wildlife, history and heritage.

Udaan is to screen in A Certain Regard at the 63rd edition of the festival alongside films of veterans like Jean-Luc Godard and Manoel de Oliveira. The last time an Indian film was shown in the same section was Murali Nair Arimpara in 2003.

Udaan is a story centering an abusive father-son relationship starring new actor Rajat Barmecha and Indian TV stars Ronit Roy and Ram Kapoor.

Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat was also present along with Indian Ambassador to France Ranjan Mathai, Director of Film Festivals S M Khan, industrialist Prakash Hinduja, producer-director Subash Ghai, Indian documentary maker S Krishnaswamy, and Deputy General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Christian Jeune at the inauguration.

The Indian government has send a 45-member team to market India as a prime film destination during the Cannes Film Festival with an aim to attract well-known Hollywood and European studios.

"The aim behind the strong government presence is to promote India aggressively as a film destination in Cannes and invite US and European film makers to shoot their films here," a senior ministry official had said.

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